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In December, 1966, Bill Foege was working as a consultant for the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on smallpox eradication in a medical mission in a remote part of eastern Nigeria. Eagerly awaiting large quantities of vaccine for a mass vaccination campaign, Foege and two CDC colleagues were then plunged into dealing with a sudden smallpox outbreak. Poring over maps and relying on short-wave radio broadcasts to other missionaries, they were able to pinpoint where the outbreak was occurring and where it would be most likely to strike next. The small amount of vaccine Foege had at his disposal was given to individuals at greatest risk, those closest to people who had developed symptoms. Within a few weeks the outbreak came to an end. Foege’s surveillance and containment strategy was rolled out, and smallpox eliminated from that region 6 months later. This extraordinary story is detailed in Foege’s 2011 book House on Fire.

The article details Foege’s work figuring out that aspirin can cause Reye’s syndrome in children, and in running a task force for global immunization that helped inspire Gates. Earlier this year, Foege won the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom for his work in the fight against disease. Gates has done his part to cement Foege’s legacy, too. Because of a grant from Gates and his wife Melinda, the building that holds the cutting edge genetics research at the University of Washington is named after William Foege.

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